Currently, silicone oil, wax, talc, mica, tetrafluoroethylene resin, and other mold-releasing agents are used in the molding of polymeric materials, such as plastic materials and rubber materials, using molds. Although silicone oil, wax, etc., have excellent mold releasability, such mold-releasing agents are transferred to molded products, thereby impairing uniform coating properties, secondary processability, and other properties; in addition, durability is not sufficient. As for tetrafluoroethylene resin, the durability of mold release effect and secondary processability are satisfactory; however, it is necessary to perform bake treatment to form a film on the molding surface of a mold in the mold-release process, and the same treatment is required for reprocessing. Consequently, many processes are required.
In order to solve these defects, mold-releasing agents comprising a C4-C20 polyfluoroalkyl group-containing phosphate ester as one of their active ingredients are proposed (see Patent Documents 1 to 3). These mold-releasing agents exhibit excellent mold releasability and have a longer mold release life than conventional mold-releasing agents; however, due to the recent trend toward the more complicated shape of molded products, there is a demand for mold-releasing agents having much higher performance.
Meanwhile, polyfluoroalkyl phosphonates are also widely used as starting materials for the synthesis of mold-releasing agents. Compounds having a C8-C12 perfluoroalkyl group are most likely to develop mold release performance when used as mold-releasing agents. In particular, phosphonate compounds having a perfluorooctyl group and represented by the general formula:CF3(CF2)7CH2CH2P(O)(OC2H5)2 are preferably used for this kind of application (see Patent Documents 4 to 7).
Incidentally, it is reported that telomer compounds having a C8-C12 perfluoroalkyl group are biologically degraded in the environment and converted to compounds having relatively high bioaccumulation and environmental concentration, causing concerns for exposure during treatment processes, and for release or diffusion from waste, treated substrates, etc., into the environment. Moreover, compounds having a perfluoroalkyl group containing 14 or more carbon atoms are very difficult to handle because of their physical and chemical properties, and hence, such compounds are rarely used in practice.
Furthermore, as for telomer compounds having a perfluoroalkyl group containing 8 or more carbon atoms, generation and mixing of perfluorooctanoic acids with high bioaccumulation potential is unavoidable during the production of these compounds. For these reasons, companies that produce such telomer compounds have retreated from the production of the compounds or promoted the use of alternative compounds having a perfluoroalkyl group containing 6 or less carbon atoms.
However, compounds having a perfluoroalkyl group containing 6 or less carbon atoms cause a significant decrease in orientation on the surface of a treated substrate, and the melting point, glass transition point (Tg), etc., of the compounds are markedly lower than those of C8 compounds. Accordingly, the compounds are highly influenced by their environmental conditions, such as temperature, humidity, stress, and contact with organic solvents. Consequently, the desired performance cannot be sufficiently achieved, and durability and other properties are affected.
Moreover, perfluoropolyether oil widely used as a lubricant is often used in the form of an emulsion for medicinal and cosmetic uses. The emulsifier usable in this case is a C8-C12 polyfluoroalkylcarboxylic acid, preferably a pentadecafluorooctanoic acid ammonium salt, which are generally used in emulsion polymerization or suspension polymerization.
Pentadecafluorooctanoic acid ammonium C7F15COONH4 is particularly excellent in emulsification performance and cost; however, due to environmental concerns, there is a tendency to inhibit the use of pentadecafluorooctanoic acid ammonium in terms of the number of carbon atoms of the perfluoroalkyl group.